Bust your way to the front

“Warm Up” at P.S. 1
Show up at noon and start your afternoon in the galleries; $50 gets you a summerlong VIP pass; MoMA members can also jump the queue.

Shakespeare in the Park
Go on a weekend before the reviews come out, or hit one of the underpublicized outer-borough locations (see publictheater.org for details). Or try posting for a placeholder on Craigslist.

SummerStage
Line up at 6 a.m. for a good seat at the big shows, and two to three hours before showtime just to get in. SummerStage memberships (from $50 up to $10,000) gain access to the “members’ entrance.”